Shorewood graduate selected for prestigious academic honor at University of Washington

Photo courtesy University of Washington

From the thousands of undergraduate students at the University of Washington, three are selected each year for the prestigious President’s Medalist Award.

Samuel Perkowski, Mia Grayson and Cher Zhang are the medalists for 2023–24, selected by a committee for their high GPAs, rigor of classes and number of Honors courses.

Junior medalist Samuel Perkowski

Major: Biochemistry
Hometown: Shoreline, Washington

High School: Shorewood

The UW has always been a part of Samuel Perkowski’s life. Growing up, he watched Husky football games, visited campus — and joked with his parents that there was no point applying anywhere else.

With an eye on becoming a Husky, Perkowski discovered an interest in biology as a high school senior through books like “The Emperor of All Maladies” by Siddhartha Mukherjee and “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge. 

“These books revealed to me the complexity and adaptability inherent in biology,” Perkowski says. “At the same time, I enjoyed chemistry in high school and knew I wanted to study things at a microscopic scale.”

At the UW, Perkowski chose to study biochemistry in the Departmental Honors Program and applied his love for the field in Associate Professor Andrea Wills’ lab, where they study tadpole tail regeneration in Xenopus tropicalis (the western clawed frog). Perkowski says the lab has become his most important community, in part because his colleagues’ determination and passion inspire him.

During his Husky tenure, Perkowski has also received two Mary Gates Research Scholarships, worked as a lab technician analyzing soil and water samples, and presented his research at the UW’s Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Looking forward, Perkowski plans to attend graduate school with the goal of becoming a university professor and one day running his own lab. Receiving this award, he says, is an “affirmation that the university acknowledges my efforts and gives me confidence as I head into the next stage of my academic journey.”